ABOUT THAT HALLIBURTON "OVERCHARGE" FOR FUEL



Byron York over at National Review Online takes a look at the evidence that Halliburton tried to deceive the US government by overcharging for fuel supplied to Iraqi citizens. Additional facts are now available: In order to quell unrest, the US Army directed Halliburton to expedite shipments of fuel from Kuwait, where it was much more expensive. Halliburton itself then suggested much cheaper sources in Turkey:

"Not many people want to drive eight to fifteen days through a war zone with a truck full of flammable materials," the company says. "Three drivers have been killed and many others injured while performing this mission, and 60 vehicles have been damaged."



As a result, Halliburton officials say they came up with the idea of arranging for another fuel source in Turkey. "[Halliburton] initiated the idea to source fuel from Turkey," the company says. [Halliburton] presented this idea to its customer, and because of this, saved taxpayers well over $100 million."

Don't expect this to reported anywhere in the mainstream press.



York's article also discloses this interesting fact: If you average the fuel prices based on the volume of fuel delivered from each source, the number you get is $1.60 per gallon. Sigh. I wish Halliburton was delivering fuel to the Bay Area.



The entire article can be found here.